


Boiling Rock Your Body

by Flameo_Hotman



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Anal Sex, And Zuko is an idiot, And now here he is in front of her with a dick up his ass, And the scene that convinced me Sokka should have a fixation on Zuko’s mouth, Because Sokka wants to eat Zuko’s ass, Blow Jobs, Force relationships, Give Ming a girlfriend 2020, I was listening to Backstreet Boys while writing this, Idiots in Love, In my other fics she is bi, Iroh spoke so fondly of his nephew to her, Iroh’s nephew, M/M, Poor Ming saw things she didn’t want to see, Rimming, So you can blame the title on that, Sokka and Zuko have a whole talk about consent in chapter one, Sokka and Zuko's Life Changing Field Trip: Boiling Cock Edition, Sub Zuko, Suki is a lesbian, That and my need to make puns, That’s Zuko, The cooler scene that we all wanted, Top Sokka, UnderCover Boss: Boiling Cock Edition, Wall Sex, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, but not rape between Sokka and Zuko, implied rape, mlm and wlw solidarity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:46:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24916330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flameo_Hotman/pseuds/Flameo_Hotman
Summary: The Boiling Rock was a strange place, surrounded by rumors and conspiracy theories. The rumors about what happened on The Boiling Rock was one of the more well-known secrets that everyone knew not to talk about.But those were just rumors. The guards weren’t actually screwing the prisoners… Right?Beta Read by scar-and-boomerang
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 94
Kudos: 748





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always thank you to my beta reader. For this fic my friend scar-and-boomerang is my beta and she did an amazing job.

The Boiling Rock was a strange place, surrounded by rumors and conspiracy theories.

And Zuko had heard the rumors about what happened on The Boiling Rock. It was one of the more well-known secrets that everyone knew not to talk about. But he hadn’t known until he’d gone back to the Fire Nation.

And once he’d known, he didn’t know what to think.

But he’d done nothing about it.

He told himself that the rumors couldn’t be true and that even if they were there was nothing that he could do about it. As Crowned Prince, he didn’t have any real power to make changes to that kind of thing. That the only thing he could have done was go to his father and tell the man he didn’t agree with what was rumored to happen to the prisoners there, but the last time he had disagreed with his father he had learned not to ever do so again.

He’d learned that lesson in a rather permanent way, even if it hadn’t stuck beyond the scar on his face.

So when Sokka had asked him about the prison, Zuko had known that he couldn’t let the guy go alone and unprepared for what he might see.

It was on the way to where he’d stashed his hot air balloon, that he finally brought it up, hoping that it would convince Sokka to give up on this suicide mission.

He ducked under a branch, before saying, “There is something you should know about The Boiling Rock…”

“I thought you told me everything about it back at the temple?” Sokka questioned, as he ducked under the same branch and walked into the clearing where Zuko had come to a stop.

The fire bender felt uneasy, as he worried about what Sokka would think. Would the warrior decide what little trust he had been willing to give Zuko was ill-placed because Zuko had known about the rumors and done nothing? The fire bender hadn’t even bothered with launching an investigation into the place to confirm whether or not the rumors were true.

What if Sokka decided to hate him?

Zuko already knew that he didn’t have a chance at being anything more than being allies with Sokka, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want more. The kind of “more” that Jet had whispered into his good ear on the ferry ride to Ba Sing Se.

But Zuko had rejected Jet because he had still wanted to go home one day. He still wondered what would have happened if he’d taken Jet up on the “more” that the Freedom Fighter had freely offered between kisses.

“Just spit it out already,” Sokka groaned, as he came to stand in front of the fire bender. “If there is something that you didn’t tell me about this place, I need to know.”

“Well, there is this rumor…” Zuko offered awkwardly, as he rubbed the back of his neck. “It might not even be true… I heard at some party, from some drunk teenagers, about how the guards treat some of the prisoners?”

“Well, it’s not like they are screwing the prisoners” Sokka replied sarcastically, but when Zuko didn’t say anything he gaped. “You have to be kidding? The guards are actually screwing the prisoners?”

“Well, that’s what the rumor says anyways…” Zuko answered, as he stepped around Sokka and began work on removing the foliage he’d used to camouflage the air balloon. “But they’re just rumors. I doubt there is any truth to them.”

However, finding lube in the storage room pretty much confirmed it.

Sokka had been the one to find it, and when he’d brought it to Zuko’s attention, the fire bender felt a surge of panic shoot through him.

“So what’s the plan for if one of us gets caught?” Sokka asked nervously.

Zuko felt his mouth go dry, as he stood there holding the guard helmet that he'd pulled from one of the shelves.

“Fuck me…” Zuko groaned as he realized just how bad his luck was, but the way Sokka was suddenly looking up at him, hungry and wanting, shot a hot thrill through him.

“I mean I’d love to, darling, but you probably mean that in a more this situation is messed up kind of way,” Sokka had joked, as he put the lube back into the box it had come from.

Zuko felt like his brain had broken.

And when Sokka looked back at him he looked confused. “Hey, are you alright? Your face is all red.”

“You would actually be willing to?” Zuko wasn’t sure what had prompted him to ask, but Agni was he glad he had when he’d heard Sokka’s answer.

“Well, yeah… You’re all hot now that you don’t have that ponytail.” And then Sokka went quiet as he studied Zuko’s white-knuckled grip on the helmet before he was grinning like a total idiot. “Zuko, do you want me to fuck you? Because if so then you should know that I have all kinds of squishy feelings for you.”

His heart was racing and Sokka was stepping into his personal space in the tiny storage room.

Zuko swallowed and gave a nod.

“Use your words, darling.” There was that word again, and Zuko felt his chi burning through his veins.

Sokka was taking the helmet from the wide-eyed fire bender and setting it back on the shelf.

“Fuck, yes, Sokka, please… Anything you want, I’ll do it.”

Sokka grinned as though he’d just been told he was being given a lifetime supply of boomerangs and meat, before purring, “I’d like to kiss you if you’ll let me.”

Zuko was glad he wasn’t holding onto that helmet anymore because the moment he’d heard that, he was grabbing Sokka by the shoulders and pulling him in and kissing those lips that he’d been wanting to kiss for Agni only knows how long now.

And kissing Sokka was like drowning in all sorts of good feelings. It wasn’t like finding his other half like some of the plays he’d seen had claimed it was. It was the feeling of every good thing that had ever happened to him all at once.

The feeling of Sokka’s hands gripping his hips and pulling him closer sent electric thrills through Zuko, and he groaned into the kiss.

Sokka was walking him back and into the wall, and then pulling away from the kiss gasping for air, and suddenly Zuko realized that not everyone could hold their breath as long as he could.

“I wanna get you off so bad right now, baby. Can I-” Sokka groaned before pressing another kiss to Zuko’s lips. “Can I pleas-”

“Yes! Fuck- Sokka, anything you want. That sounds great!”

Sokka pressed a kiss to Zuko’s throat before he leaned his head against the fire bender’s own and said, “Let me know if you want me to stop. Okay?”

Zuko nodded and then Sokka spit into his hand and freed the fire bender from his pants before he began stroking him slowly.

Zuko’s hips gave an instinctive jerk, as he buried his face into the crook of Sokka’s neck.

No one had ever touched him like this- had ever touched his manhood before, and sweet Agni was he now regretting having turned Jet down because this felt like drowning in nirvana. A nirvana he had no experience with before, and if Sokka ever told anyone about the soft little whine he gave, he would probably yell about it for a bit. But not much else beyond that because hopefully, Sokka would want to do this again in the near future.

“I’ve barely touched you, darling, are you sure you can handle what I want to do to you?” Sokka all but growled into his ear.

Zuko shuddered as his hips gave another involuntary jerk at those words.

“Please, Sokka- Anything you want, just don’t stop-” But his words cut off and turned into a loud, desperate keening sound as the warrior dropped to his knees and swallowed him whole.

Any form of coherent thought was lost to Zuko completely as Sokka sucked his brain right out of his head and through his dick.

All he knew was the wet feeling of a mouth and the sensation of Sokka’s tongue on him. He wasn’t even sure if the sounds he was making in response could even count as words, much less what those words were saying.

He came horrifyingly fast and dropped to the ground, turning completely boneless in the afterglow.

“Has anyone ever told you that you curse like a sailor?” Sokka joked, kneeling over Zuko’s spent form before pressing a kiss to his lips.

The fire bender mumbled back, “Ima sailor…”

“And a virgin apparently,” Sokka teased, before getting back to his feet and holding out a hand, but Zuko didn’t take it, preferring to stay slumped against the wall with his pants undone.

Sokka must have realized that Zuko was a lost cause at this moment because he stepped away to get changed into a guard uniform, while Zuko watched behind sleepy hooded eyes. And who could blame him when Sokka looked the way he did?

Zuko knew he didn’t look remotely close to the level of show-stopping perfection that was Sokka. And honestly, he didn’t care. Not with Sokka looking at him the way he was.

Once Sokka was done getting dressed in the guard uniform, he looked at Zuko expectantly and sighed when Zuko still didn’t get up.

“Okay, you have to get up and get into a uniform. We don’t have time for you to take a nap right now,” Sokka ordered, but Zuko groaned and Zuko groaned but stayed slumped on the ground.

So when Sokka groaned and walked back over to him and proceeded to undress him, Zuko jolted.

“You got to get a guard uniform on, and you aren't getting up to do it. So it isn’t really like I have much of a choice unless you would rather do this yourself?” Sokka sighed.

Zuko swatted his hands away, before finally dragging himself to his feet, groaning, “Fine, but this is your fault.”

“My fault?” Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Zuko rolled his eyes, as he undid the sash that held his shirts closed, “Yeah, you decided it would be a good idea to suck my brains out.”

If Sokka gave a chuckle at that, Zuko didn’t acknowledge it. What he did acknowledge was the way the warrior’s eyes locked onto him when he shrugged his shirt off lazily.

There was that same hungry look that had threatened to devour him.

Zuko gave a slight shiver that had nothing to do with the nonexistent cold.

It didn’t take long after that for Zuko to actually get dressed and for the strength to return to his orgasm weak limbs. Once the fire bender was dressed, Sokka brought back up the question that had led to Zuko getting that earth-shattering blow job.

“So what  _ do  _ we do if one of us gets caught?”

Zuko glanced at Sokka, one hand on the door, and answered, “We don’t get caught.”

“But if we do? We need a safeword,” Sokka pointed out.

The fire bender paused and thought over his options before saying, “Hotsprings, now let’s go.”

In the courtyard, Sokka and Zuko ended up having to split up when Sokka had been ordered to help escort a prisoner to the coolers. So with an agreement to meet back up there in an hour, Zuko let Sokka walk away, before finding his own way to the lounge to grab something to eat, along with any intel he could get about this place and the prisoners.

Glancing over the different options he had for food left him feeling homesick for The Dragon’s Claw. It was a shame that his ship, his home of three years, was sitting at the bottom of a harbor that wouldn’t even be Fire Nation waters if they could defeat Ozai and end the war. The Earth Kingdom would be wanting the land that the Fire Nation had stolen from them back, and there would be no good excuse to keep the northern colonies.

The tea smelt like jasmine and brought the pain of missing his uncle back to the forefront of his aching heart.

He grabbed a cup of it and set it on his tray before someone called out, “Hey new guy. I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times but this is the lounge. Relax.”

“But what if there's an incident? If I'm not prepared someone could strike me on the head,” He answered, as he turned and made his way to the table the guard was sitting at, hoping that was an invitation for him to sit with them.

This was met with laughter from the group of guards sitting at the table, but they didn’t object when he sat down.

The female guard, she looked familiar, laughed, “Give it a week, he'll loosen up.”

“Can the new guy ask you, veterans, a few questions about the prison?”

The female, who he suddenly realized was one of the guards from the Caldera, named Ming, answered with a scoff, “No, you can't date the female guards.”

The guard who had called him New Guy gave a chuckle, “Nah, that’s what the prisoners are for. And trust me, they are a lot more fun than the female guards.”

Ming playfully chucked a cup at his head, before saying, “Don’t listen to Shinzu. There is a system in place for that, but they already went over that with you during orientation.”

“Uh… I didn’t pay attention during that,” Zuko said, hoping the awkwardness in his voice while he lied came across casual.

It must have because Shinzu answered with a creepy looking grin, “It’s simple. You find a prisoner that can’t or won’t fight back and claim them. It’s just a bonus if they are actually good looking. They have to be the same gender as you and not already be claimed of course. We don’t want to spread any diseases or have to deal with any pregnant guards or prisoners. But when you find one you like, you put in a request with the warden and if he approves it you are given a chip with that prisoner’s ID number on it.”

To prove his point the man unclipped a tag from his belt and showed it to Zuko.

Zuko didn’t feel very hungry after that, but he pushed on and asked the question that had brought him to the prison in the first place, “The Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals right? So what about war prisoners?”

The answer had been a resounding no, and Zuko did not look forward to letting Sokka know that they had come all this way for nothing.

While it wasn’t all for nothing because not only had Zuko confirmed the rumors about this place first hand, as Fire Lord he would be making some pretty massive changes to this place, but he had also learned that Sokka actually had feelings for him. Feelings that Zuko thought the Water Tribesman would never have held for him in ten thousand lifetimes.

Feelings that Zuko definitely had for Sokka.

Zuko found Sokka right where they had agreed to meet up and told him the bad news, then promptly made a fool of himself trying to cheer Sokka up with talk about a silver sandwich.

“No, what you said made no sense at all. It was super cute though, but I meant to look over there, it's Suki!” Sokka answered, and Zuko didn’t feel much better.

Not when Sokka looked at the girl he’d pointed out like she had hung the stars.

Maybe he had overestimated Sokka’s feelings for him.

Suddenly a bell was ringing out and a guard was shouting for the prisoners to return to their cells. It was then that Zuko decided to impart the rest of what he had learned to Sokka.

“There is something else you need to know,” And then he told Sokka about the chips.

Sokka had seemed unsurprised by this information, and shrugged, “Yeah, that is messed up, but another guard told me all about that while we were taking that Chit Sang guy to the coolers. And that actually makes things easier if one of us gets caught!”

“It does?” Zuko asked, more than a little confused.

Sokka gave a confident nod, as he lounged against the railing and continued, “Yeah, I mean whichever one of us doesn’t get caught just has to claim the other. And then we get unrestricted access to each other as long as we use something like blow jobs as a cover story.”

“Uh…” Zuko was glad he was wearing the helmet because his face had turned beat red, with all of the blood that had rushed to his cheeks. “That might not work if I’m the one that’s captured…”

“Oh yeah, because you’re royalty and all angry,” Sokka laughed awkwardly. “It would seem really weird if you didn’t bite my dick off.”

“Yeah… Which means if I get caught…” Zuko trailed off hoping Sokka understood what he was implying.

Thankfully Sokka did because he answered, “I’d have to go all the way with you… I already told you that I would love to, but are you sure you’d be okay with that?”

“I’ve never really done anything like that before… But… Uh, yeah, I would be okay with that, but let’s try not to get caught,” Zuko managed awkwardly, knowing that if he was caught then there wouldn’t really be much of a choice in it.

And yet at the same time…

At the same time, he kind of hoped he would get caught, if that meant he would get to be Sokka’s. Even if it was just for a few days, while they tried to figure out a way for them to get Sokka’s girlfriend out of this place.

Because he’d seen the way that Sokka had looked at Suki and he knew he couldn’t compete with that...


	2. Chapter 2

Zuko wasn’t exactly excited to be standing watch as Sokka talked to Suki.

Talked. Yeah right. Sokka was probably in there kissing the warrior. He doubted that there was much talking going on. But he wasn’t about to be angry with Sokka over that. One kiss and a blow job didn’t actually mean anything, no matter how much he wished it did.

He couldn’t be angry if Sokka had someone who made him happy.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t jealous.

Sokka probably didn’t even like guys, even if he had made Zuko realize how much he himself liked guys. And so maybe breaking up with Mai would have happened anyway because even if he had stayed by his father’s side, Zuko knew he wouldn’t have been able to make things work with her in the long run.

He wouldn’t have been able to trap her in a marriage with someone who didn’t actually love her.

But then he spotted Ming and gave a quick covert knock at the door to let Sokka know his time was up.

Ming demanded, “Excuse me, I need to get into that cell.”

“No, you can't go in there. The lights are out... the prisoner could sneak up on you,” He answered awkwardly, as he pointed to the door.

This time she didn’t buy his awkwardness as him just being a shy newbie if her frown was anything to go by.

“Step aside, fool. She’s  _ my  _ prisoner,” Ming growled and Zuko knew he had to do something to distract her because if she stepped foot into that cell and saw Sokka, their whole plan would fall apart.

So he lunged for her and threw her against the wall.

And okay, maybe he hadn’t thought that through, but Sokka was the plan guy, not him. Zuko was the “act now, regret it later” guy.

Ming shouted out in shock and anger, and Zuko wondered briefly if what his uncle had told him about the woman had been true because that Ming sounded like the kind of person who would never go around raping prisoners. She had sounded too nice and kind-hearted to do something like that.

But maybe Uncle had been wrong.

“Guard, help! I think he's an imposter! Argh! Arrest him!” She shouted, and Zuko glanced over to see Sokka standing there awkwardly.

She called out to Sokka again, demanding, “Get him off me and arrest him!”

Finally, Sokka reacted and dragged Zuko away from Ming, before shoving him against the wall and snarling, “You’re under arrest!”

Then he leaned in and added quietly, “Don't worry, I'll figure it out.”

Zuko pretended to fight back as he shouted, “Hey! Get off of me, filth!”

“Filth? I’ll show you who’s filth!” Sokka full-on growled, and the shiver of excitement that shot right to Zuko’s dick startled him far more than being thrown against the wall had.

Zuko’s heart rate sped up as Sokka jerked his hands from the wall and cuffed them behind his back.

He couldn’t keep the quiver of desire out of his voice as he shot back, “What? You planning on fucking me or something?”

He knew that his words hadn’t held as much rage as he had hoped that they would.

“That sounds like a great idea,  _ prisoner,” _ Sokka snarked, and Zuko could practically hear the smirk on the man’s face, right before his trousers were roughly yanked down.

Zuko went rigid.

This was actually happening.

He barely registered the sound of a cap being popped off from the vial of lube that he hadn’t realized Sokka had grabbed from the storeroom. He barely registered that Sokka wasn’t holding him against the wall anymore until the Water Tribesman  landed a sharp smack on his bare ass .

The yelp that slipped past his lips was mortifying, and the fact that blood went rushing to his dick was absolutely unexpected.

Agni, Sokka hadn’t even touched him and he already was completely shameless about what was happening.

“The spirits must love you. They gave you a great looking ass. It’s mine now. Got it?” Sokka murmured before giving it a squeeze with his free hand.

Zuko’s answer spilled past his lips before he had a chance to realize what he was saying, “Yeah, okay, yours, got it.”

“Holy shit! You’re into this!” Sokka shouted, sounding thoroughly excited by this revelation.

Zuko didn’t give an answer to that and instead pressed his face against the cool metal of his helmet, trying to soothe the burning skin of his face. But there was no denying the truth. And when Sokka nudged his legs further apart with his knee, Zuko didn’t fight.

He didn’t want to fight.

Not when there was the pressing of fingers at his rim, cold and slick, sending his body temperature skyrocketing.

Sokka leaned in and whispered into his ear, “You sure about this?”

“Please, don’t stop-,” Zuko whined, pressing himself against the probing finger, and then it was pushing into him and he let out a needy groan.

Sokka was babbling something that Zuko’s lust-fogged mind couldn’t make sense of aside from how much he didn’t want Sokka to shut up. He wanted Sokka to take him apart and leave him just as boneless as the warrior had done back in the storeroom earlier that day.

His whole world narrowed down onto that one finger pressing into him, and he wanted more.

Later he would be horrified that he’d gone straight to begging for it, but right now he couldn’t care less.

And his begging was rewarded with a second finger pressing into him and then a third working him open torturously slow. And yet all too soon they left him and he was sobbing to have them back inside him.

“Would you really rather have my fingers in you and not my cock?” Sokka rasped, as a wet smacking sound came from right behind Zuko. And then next thing he knew, he was being spun around and his back was being slammed against the wall.

The handcuffs around his wrists were digging into his back, and he was kicking the trousers that had pooled around his ankles off just in time for Sokka to lift him up by his thighs before finally spearing himself into Zuko.

Zuko hooked his legs around Sokka’s hips with a shout of pain as his head whipped back and his helmet clanged loudly against the wall. Sokka jerked that helmet off from his head, along with his own, before attacking Zuko’s neck with his mouth, and Zuko was full-on sobbing in pleasure at the sensations devouring him whole.

And then that Water Tribe cock was pulling nearly all the way out before slamming back into him, pounding into him over and over. But then Sokka shifted his hips and he was seeing stars and screaming out.

Zuko blacked out for a few moments, and when he’d come back to himself, Sokka was still chasing his own completion in the fire bender’s spent body. All Zuko could do was groan and rest his head on Sokka’s shoulder, as aftershocks of ecstasy shot through him until finally Sokka’s thrust lost their rhythm and then he was burying himself deep inside of Zuko and cumming hard into the fire bender.

After a few moments, Sokka finally slipped his own spent cock from Zuko, before pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, and growling, “This slut is mine. Got it?”

Ming’s voice answered, sounding startled, “But that’s the prince-”

“His ass is mine!” Sokka shouted back, still pressed up against Zuko as if it was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

Zuko couldn’t help the shudder that shot through him. He decided that he liked this side of Sokka. He liked this side of Sokka a lot.

“Y-Yes, sir,” She answered.

And suddenly Zuko realized with horror that she had been standing there the whole time. And that it was more likely than not that anyone in the vicinity had heard him begging to be fucked. Pleading for more like some common whore.

But he was distracted from that line of thinking by another gentle kiss, and he melted into it.

“Uh… We should get him to processing, and I’ll send someone to let the warden know to get you your chip for him,” She managed but sounded strained and awkward. Almost hostile.

“Yeah, okay, let’s do that,” Sokka sighed, as he stepped back from Zuko, whose legs gave out and fell to the ground unable to support himself on the jelly he called legs.

Zuko gave a wreaked chuckle, and rasped, “I think you’re going to have to carry me, sir.”

Sokka stood there for a moment blinking at him in shock before nodding and pulling Zuko’s pants back onto him. Then he lifted Zuko up into his arms, bridal style, and turned to Ming who led the way.

Once they arrived at booking, Zuko was placed down on a table that had manacles on it, and Ming sent off one of the guards to go get the warden before she turned back to look at Sokka and Zuko with a tense awkward look.

Of course, it wasn’t every day that someone breaks into a prison, though the prince of the Fire Nation breaking into prison was more likely than most people might think. 

Not that many people knew about that.

It wasn’t long before the warden came storming in shouting, “If this is some sort of prank- Agni’s ballsack! It  _ is  _ the prince!”

Zuko made no attempt to conceal the look of disgust that settled on his face when he spotted how many chips hung from the man’s keychain.

“He’s guilty of first-degree treason, Ming. Why haven't you IDed him yet?” The warden demanded.

Ming seemed surprised as she sputtered, “First-degree treason, sir?”

“This traitor tried to murder the Fire Lord. So strip him down and ID him.”

Zuko knew better than to glance over at Sokka and gauge the man’s reaction to that news, as he answered, “I didn’t. I confronted him and then left. But I won’t deny that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind before. Tell me, does he know how you are running this place? Every last one of those chips on your belt is proof of your shameful dishonor. When I am Fire Lord, you will be finding yourself a prisoner on your little island.”

The look of pure hatred the warden was now glaring at Zuko with was almost impressive, but both Ozai and Zhao had looked at him with infinitely more intense contempt. Zuko only grew under that gaze. And the last time his father had turned that glare on him, Zuko hadn’t shrunk beneath it.

“You will never be Fire Lord, and just for that…,” the warden trailed off and looked at Sokka and asked, “What is your name?”

“Lee,” Sokka answered without hesitation.

That glare turned itself back to Zuko and the warden continued, “And just for that Lee here will be given special instructions about your stay here.”

Following that the man stormed from the room.

Zuko knew what was to come next. The IDing process was standardized across the whole of the Fire Nation and its prisons, so he shifted to lay face down on the table. The sooner that the guards tattooed the back of his neck, the sooner they could begin working on their escape.

Even Uncle had been tattooed during his time in the prison tower.

“I’ll be quick, Prince Zuko,” Ming said a thread of tension in her voice, as she strapped him down to the tattooing table.

After the pain he’d suffered during the Agni Kai with his father, a simple tattoo was nothing and he didn’t even flinch. And after she had finished with the identification tattoo and issued Sokka a chip with a matching serial number on it, she had Sokka sit Zuko back up while she bandaged it.

“Can you stand, my prince?” She asked as Sokka helped him down from the table.

Zuko tested putting his weight on his legs, and when he found that they didn’t give out this time, he gave a nod and stated, “My uncle spoke highly of you. He must have been wrong about you if that chip on your belt is anything to go by.”

“It’s not what it looks like…” She protested, looking devastated.

He hadn’t grown up around his sister and not learned how to strike at someone’s weaknesses like Ty Lee chi blocking someone.

The grips that Ming and Sokka had on his forearms were weak as they led him out from the room and past the guards who had gathered outside to see if the rumors that the traitor prince had broken into the prison only to be caught were true.

He held his head high and only gave the suddenly silent crowd a brief and cold glance as he walked past them.

The guards shrank beneath the look he’d given them, and he couldn’t help the smirk that had graced his lips because in that one single moment he had asserted his dominance over them. They knew exactly who he was and what he would do to them should they even think of getting in his way.

He stared directly ahead of him until he had been locked away in his cell.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning found Zuko in the mess hall, holding a tray of food and scanning the room for Suki. She would be his best bet at a semi-friendly party to eat with and he would need her to be familiar enough with him that she could trust he was really helping her to escape this place.

She didn’t seem happy to see him when he sat down across from her.

Zuko hadn’t thought she would be. Not when he hadn’t been quiet last night outside her cell with Sokka. Though there was something familiar about her that he couldn’t quite place.

“I’m sorry about-” He started but she filled in the rest for him.

“For burning my village down?”

“I- Wait, you’re from Kyoshi?” Zuko answered dumbly.

She looked confused as she replied, “Yeah… Wait, what were you about to apologize for, if you didn’t actually remember who I was?”

“You- I- Last night? Sokka’s your boyfriend?” Zuko asked suddenly unsure of what exactly was going on, before adding, “But I am also sorry for burning your village down.”

Suki looked at him like he was an idiot, before scoffing, “I’m a lesbian, and I have a girlfriend.”

And yeah Zuko felt like an idiot, as he realized he had just made a fool of himself and then asked, “Is it Ming?”

Suki nodded with a smile saying, “Yeah, but she refuses to actually do anything with me until she gets me out of this dump. So if you had just explained to her last night what you were doing outside of my cell, you wouldn’t be a prisoner. You don't think things like this through, Do you?”

“I’ve been told that before…,” Zuko sighed, rubbing briefly at the back of his neck, but stopping when the sting of a fresh tattoo shot through him. Maybe he was also feeling a sting of guilt over what he’d said to Ming last night, asking her about the chip would have cleared things up.

“So… Sounds like Sokka was a good lay,” Suki managed, awkwardly fishing for the threads of casual conversation with Zuko.

Zuko choked on his rice and eggs, not having expected Suki to bring that up, before he answered, “Uh… Yeah, I guess he is…”

“Oh? You guess?” The warrior asked him with the same smile Ty Lee always gave him when they gossiped about the palace staff and the other nobles. “You’ve been with someone better?”

Zuko was glad that his hair was long enough to hide his face when it was downturned because Suki couldn’t see the way his face was burning, as he answered her question anyways.

“Uh… Actually no. I’ve never… You know?”

“So Sokka is your first?” Suki asked and Zuko gave a nod, but then she sighed and cupped his cheeks with her hands and forced him to look up at her. “Look I get it. You grew up as royalty. There were probably certain expectations that you had to follow.”

Zuko was about to answer, but then there was the sudden sound of dishes crashing to the floor and someone being slammed down onto a table. He stood and turned towards where the sound had come from and spotted Shinzu looming over a prisoner. He was about to put a stop to what was happening to the prisoner, but Suki pulled him back down into his seat at the table.

“Zuko, no. We can’t do anything about that. If we do we’ll get in trouble,” She looked just as upset as he felt. “The sooner we escape, the sooner Aang can stop the Fire Lord. Then you can do something about it. You’ll be able to put a stop to the whole thing. You just have to be patient.”

He didn’t feel very hungry after that.

When Sokka had finally come to find him, Zuko and Suki were sweeping the floors.

“Oh, good. You guys have met,” Sokka greeted them with.

Zuko answered, “Yeah, at breakfast.” before he and Suki leaned their brooms against the wall and sat down, looking at Sokka.

Sokka smiled at Zuko in a way that left him feeling warm all over, before he announced quietly, “So listen, I think I have an escape plan. I checked out the coolers again, the whole point of them is to keep fire benders contained, right?”

“Yeah?” Ming asked as she made her approach. “That’s actually a decent plan. The coolers are completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. They would be able to keep the heat of the lake out. They would make the perfect boat.”

Sokka whipped around to face the female guard, looking startled as he answered, “What? No, I wasn’t-”

“Relax, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to help Suki escape ever since I first got here,” She answered. “I realized last night that I would have to figure out a plan to free Prince Zuko as well. Yours sounds like it would actually work.”

Sokka looked relieved, as Suki asked, “But how are you going to get the cooler out?”

Suddenly Chit Sang made his appearance, slipping under the railing of the stairs and appearing next to them asking, “Yeah, how are you going to get the cooler out?”

“What? We didn't. We... We didn't say that” Sokka said in a panic.

Zuko scowled at the man and added, “Yeah, you heard wrong.”

“I heard you hatching an escape plan and I want in,” Chit Sang shot back, unimpeded by their resistance.

Ming butted back into the conversation, before they could make any more excuses, and said, “Fine, but the moment you get in our way, we’ll let you take the fall for the whole thing.”

“Okay, I’m good with that,” Chit Sang answered.

However Zuko, not as easily trusting, asked, “How do we know you won’t turn us in if you get caught?”

“I ain’t a snitch,” The man answered, sounding disgusted that Zuko had even asked.

Sokka pushed on with his plan saying, “Now, first we need someone to unbolt the cooler from the inside.”

He pulled out a wrench and handed it over to Zuko, who pocketed it.

Chit Sang decided now was the time to prove he could actually aid them in their plans, rather than just being a tag-along, “Oh, I can get you inside.”

One fight later and Zuko was being thrown into a cooler.

He didn’t know exactly how long he would have before Sokka came to let him out, so he worked as quickly as he could to remove every last one of the bolts. And not long after he had finished with them, the door to his cooler slid open.

“I can take you back to your cell if you've learned your lesson,” Sokka stated, in his guard voice that sent a shiver of excitement down his spine.

Zuko looked up with hooded eyes and let out a single breath of flame, before saying, “Yes, I have. Completely.”

He didn’t miss the way that Sokka’s eyes zeroed in on his mouth. He didn’t even seem to notice the nuts and bolts that Zuko had revealed.

When Sokka said “I got Suki and Chit Sang out of their cells a few minutes ago. They'll be waiting for us with Ming at the shore,” his voice sounded oddly tense and he swallowed, eyes still locked firmly on Zuko’s mouth.

Zuko rocked forward onto his knees, a sudden thrill going through him at the thought of the sudden power he held over Sokka, and asked, “Do you mind if I try something really quickly?”

“Go for it,” Sokka answered, as he reached out to grab hold of the side of the opening to the cooler.

Zuko pulled Sokka from his pants, finding the man already half-hard, and leaned forward to look up at the blue eyes watching him.

He gave the tip an experimental lick as he heard a pair of guards walk into the hall of coolers.

“Yeah, new arrivals coming in at dawn,” Said the first guard.

A female guard answered, “Anybody interesting?”

“Nah, just the usual. Some robbers, a couple of traitors, some war prisoners. Though I did hear there might be a pirate.” The first guard replied.

The second one said, “No fooling” and then they were gone.

Sokka didn’t even seem to have noticed the conversation that had taken place right behind him, his eyes still glued to Zuko and his mouth. Zuko for his part decided to wait until after he was finished with his current task to talk to Sokka about what they had overheard.

He warped a hand around the cock and gave it a few experimental strokes, before commenting, “How did this even fit in me? It’s huge.”

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Sokka groaned, clearly hoping Zuko would blow him if the desperate look on his face was anything to go by.

Zuko answered, “I want to, though” and then he took Sokka into his mouth.

The taste was bitter and musky. It wasn’t bad, but it hadn’t been what he was expecting given how eager Sokka had sounded when he’d had Zuko in his mouth back when they first got here. 

The weight on his tongue was, however, surprisingly pleasant.

Zuko’s eyes drifted close and he ran his tongue along the underside of Sokka’s cock, just like the man had done to Zuko. It must have been the right thing to do, based on the sound Sokka made.

He steadied himself with a hand on the man’s thigh and gave a hum before he began bobbing his head.

“Shit- Yeah, just like that,” Sokka groaned, thrusting into Zuko’s mouth before he was able to restrain himself. Zuko’s throat tightened to prevent the sudden intrusion and he gagged for a moment.

A sense of pride flooded him, driving him further as he pulled nearly all the way off from the member and lapped at the tip again before he relaxed his throat and tried to see how much of Sokka he could actually fit into his mouth.

The constant praise Sokka was babbling out at him drove him further and further each time he managed to get more and more of that cock into his mouth. And it wasn't long before he found his nose pressing into the thick and coarse public hair at the base of Sokka’s cock.

A surge of pride thrummed through his veins at the achievement. 

This man had undone him twice and now it was Zuko’s turn to do the same.

He couldn’t help moaning as he snaked his free hand into his own pants to palm at his own erection.

Zuko opened his eyes and looked back up at Sokka’s face. The warrior’s face was screwed up in pleasure, and hungry eyes still were locked on his mouth. Zuko’s own head was swimming with that same ecstasy.

His jaw was starting to ache, but he didn’t stop. He enjoyed the feeling of Sokka sliding in and out of his throat too much.

“Spirits, Zuko, you look so beautiful like this,” Sokka grunted, and Zuko’ was blinded for a moment, as he came completely undo, at Sokka’s praise. He would have been mortified, but the sound Sokka made before cumming down his throat was amazing.

Zuko pulled off of the softening cock and pressed his face against one of Sokka’s thighs, trying to catch his breath.

Sokka sighed, sated, “Fuck, you were perfect, baby. We have to do this again once we get back to the temple.”

“Okay, definitely, let’s do that,” Zuko answered, before dragging himself back onto his feet and adding, “I don’t know if you overheard those guards who walked past, but you should know about the incoming prisoners. One of them might be your dad.”

Sokka still hadn’t come to a decision by the time they had gotten the cooler to the shore.

Chit Sang turned to them and said, “Took you guys long enough. This here's my girl and my best buddy. They're coming too.” Then he pointed to the indicated people.

Zuko flushed and Suki smirked at him playfully.

Sokka looked around at their group, before sighing, “There isn’t going to be enough room for all of us in the cooler. Ming and I are guards, so we’ll stay behind. The two of us will have the easiest chance of escaping without you guys.”

“No, if you’re not coming with, I won’t go,” Zuko shot back.

Suki added, “Me too. I won’t leave without you guys either.”

“Not me, I'm out. Let's roll baby,” Chit Sang declared, before taking off in the cooler with his friend and his girlfriend.

The four of them watched the cooler fade from sight and disappear into the steamy fog of the lake as the sun rose. Then they began to pick their way back into the prison. But not long after a siren went off and there was the shouting of a guard.

“Guards! Secure the perimeter and lock down the prisoners. Now!”

Sokka looked back at the group who took off on the ledge they were sneaking along and groaned, “The plan failed! They got caught.”

After some more shouting, their group spotted the gondola making its way towards the island.

Sokka breathed, “If my Dad's not there, we risked everything for nothing.”

“We had to,” Suki answered.

The gondola arrived at the platform and Sokka pleaded quietly, “Come on, come on.”

After the first prisoner, a burly man with piercings and tattoos stepped out, Zuko asked, “Is that him?”

“My dad doesn't have a nose ring,” Sokka scoffed, while the rest of the prisoners stepped out one by one. When no one else came out from the gondola, Sokka nearly cried, “Where is he? That's it? That can't be it.”

Suki tried to console Sokka, saying, “I'm sorry Sokka.”

“Hey you, get off the gondola,” One of the guards ordered, and then out stepped a man who looked like an older version of Sokka.

Sokka’s smile as he whispered “Dad” was radiant and Zuko’s breath caught at the sight.

Zuko fell in love with Sokka right then and there.


	4. Chapter 4

Sokka casually strolled out onto the platform where the new prisoners were lined up, so he could get a closer look at what state his dad was currently in.

He pushed his way between two of the guards, saying, “Excuse me, coming through. The Warden wants me over here, sorry.”

And then he stood there as the warden “welcomed” the new prisoners until he had arrived at Hakoda in the lineup.

“Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you,” The man demanded.

Hakoda did not look up, continuing to glare at his feet, and answered, “No.”

The warden looked furious with that answer and growled back, getting right in Hakoda’s face “Oh, you'd rather look at my shoes? Then take a look!”

He used one of his feet to force Hakoda down on his knees roughly and snapped, “I know exactly who you are, Hakoda of the Water Tribe. So strong-willed. But don't worry, we'll get rid of that in time. Now, look me in the eye.”

Hakoda obeyed this time, but he glared up with seething hatred for the man. Sokka knew this wasn’t going to end well for the warden and that fact alone made him worry for his dad.

“See? Isn't that better? You will all do as I say or pay the price. You will all…,” The man began in triumph, but then Hakoda tripped the warden with his cuffed hands, sporting a vicious grin on his face.

Sokka snickered, as two guards bolted over to help the warden to his feet.

One asked, “Are you okay, Sir?”

“I'm fine! Get these prisoners out of my sight!,” The warden snapped, lashing out at the guard who’d asked.

After that, the prisoners were led away to processing and then their cells.

Learning which one was his dad was easy.

“Thank goodness you're okay,” Sokka said as he snuck into the cell before walking towards his dad, but the man stood up from his mattress and settled into an attacking stance.

Hakoda growled, “If you take one step closer you'll see just how okay I am!”

Sokka gave a laugh as he lifted the visor of his helmet and said, “Dad, it's me.”

Hakoda lowered his arm and looked like the spirits had personally assured him that everything would be okay, before nearly sobbing, “Sokka, my son.”

Sokka sighed into the hug that his dad gave him.

Hakoda laughed as he finally released him from the hug, “You know Sokka, you should be more careful with that guard outfit on. I almost punched you in the gut.”

“Yeah, I ran into that problem earlier,” Sokka replied, rubbing the back of his neck, before asking, “So where's Bato? Where's everyone else from the invasion?”

Hakoda opened his mouth to answer, but then his eyes flicked down to the keyring hanging from Sokka’s belt, and he frowned. He looked back up at Sokka, confused and as if Sokka had slapped him in the face.

“I thought that I raised you better than that,” He stated with tense disappointment.

Sokka furrowed his brows for a moment before he realized what his dad had seen and paled in horror at what his dad thought he’d done, answering, “You did! It isn’t what it looks like. I came here with a friend to rescue you, and he got caught. We even talked about it beforehand!”

“Oh thank La!” Hakoda sighed in relief, as he sat down against the wall and asked, “So… Who is this friend? Do I know him?”

Sokka found himself sitting down next to his dad awkwardly as he answered, “So you know Prince Zuko right?”

“Your friend, that you are having sex with, is the Fire Lord’s son?” Hakoda asked, shocked.

Sokka nodded, with a smile, as he thought about Zuko, “Yeah, he’s great- Uh… Actually, I never would have found you without his help and I know after all he has done, it was hard to trust him. But he's really proven himself.”

“If you trust him, then that’s good enough for me. The others are being held at a prison near the Fire Nation palace. They singled me out as their leader and sent me here. But before I left I met some young women who said they knew you. The Yoshinama Fighters?” Hakoda said as he messed up his son’s hair.

Sokka was quick to fuss around trying to fix it as he corrected, “You mean the Kyoshi Warriors?”

Once he had finished talking with his dad and coming up with a new and frankly way better escape plan, he left to go talk to Zuko. Along the way, he came across Ming and relayed the plan to her.

“And then away in the gondola, we go!” He finished with a wide smile.

Ming was quiet for a few moments, with a thoughtful look on her face before she finally said anything, “That’s actually a solid plan. And we are doing this today?”

“In a little over an hour. I’m on my way to let Zuko know. You should go tell Suki,” Sokka answered, clapping her on the shoulder. “We are getting out of this place today. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this.”

Ming smiled and laughed, “The warden is going to hate this!”

And she rushed off towards the women’s section of the prison, leaving Sokka to stand alone in the hallway for a few moments basking in the glory of his impending success before he finally headed off to the men’s section to go tell Zuko the good news.

It didn’t take long before he found himself outside the door of Zuko’s cell and gave a knock at the door asking, “Zuko, you in there?”

“I’m here,” Zuko answered as his eyes appeared in the small slit in the door.

Sokka smiled and said, “I just got done talking to my Dad. We came up with an escape plan together.” as he began to open the door so he could slip inside and tell Zuko all of the details.

“What are you doing here?” A guard, Shinzu if he remembered correctly, called out as he approached the cell.

Sokka turned to face him and the other guard, before saying, “This is my prisoner, and I am here to do as I please with him.”

“Well, you'll have to do that later, he's coming with us,” Shinzu growled.

Sokka looked to Zuko's cell door and back, “Why?”

The female guard crossed her arms and answered, “Because we have orders straight from the Warden. That's why.”

“And I have orders from the warden to put him in his place at least once a day. I won’t take long,” Sokka shot back.

She looked at him for a few moments before asking, “Can I see your chip?”

“Sure,” Sokka answered as he walked over and held out the chip for her to look at. “Now can I do my job, so he won’t mouth off to the warden when you guys take him to the guy?”

She gave a nod and laughed, “Fine, but be quick about it.”

Sokka gave a salute before disappearing into Zuko’s cell.

“We have a new plan but it's gonna need a big distraction. We are going to take the warden prisoner and use the gondola to get out of this place. We’ll meet up in the courtyard in an hour,” Sokka informed him, as he pushed Zuko down onto the mattress.

The way Zuko smiled up at him made heat spread through Sokka.

“Okay, but first you have to put me in my place right?” Zuko asked almost sinfully and suddenly Sokka was very glad that Zuko had been captured because he couldn’t imagine a world where he didn’t get to do just that.

And maybe he was in love with the guy. But who wouldn’t be with Zuko looking at him like he was the sun itself?

Sokka made quick work of getting Zuko out of his pants, before grabbing the vial of lube from his pocket.

“When we are done, you are gonna have to pretend to not be able to walk. Better to make them lower their guard and make getting away from the warden easier,” Sokka instructed as he began to spread the lube on Zuko’s dick.

The fire bender bit his lip and nodded.

Sokka swallowed at the sight of Zuko laid out beneath him, and found himself suddenly asking, “Do you- Will you be my boyfriend?”

“Oh thank Agni! Yes, that sounds great. Now could we please kiss and get on with this already?” Zuko full-on begged.

Sokka gave a laugh and obeyed by kissing his  _ boyfriend _ .

Zuko shuddered at his touch and Sokka knew that the fire bender would let him do anything he wanted to him at this moment. Sokka would, in due time, but first, they had to get out of this place.

And he would thank whichever spirit who decided getting Zuko off was part of that plan.

The way Zuko writhed beneath him, as he slowly stroked the fire bender’s dick was amazing.

“Those guards need to hear you moaning, baby, for this to work. And more importantly, I want to hear you,” Sokka groaned greedily.

The fire bender’s mouth fell open and a choked whine came from him, his hands fisting the mattress beneath him as he jerked into Sokka’s touch.

Sokka decided he enjoyed taking Zuko apart and drowning him in pleasure. There was something indescribably beautiful about the way the fire bender shivered on the edge of orgasm. And there was something incredibly powerful feeling about knowing Sokka had the power to withhold that soul-shattering completion from Zuko if he wanted to.

And then Sokka slipped from the bed to kneel between Zuko’s spread thighs before he pressed his tongue to Zuko’s rim.

His  _ boyfriend _ gave a shout of surprise and then Sokka was licking into him. The thought that his dick had been inside this same hole just last night was an oddly erotic concept to Sokka, but it drove him further.

It fed him in his quest to chase Zuko’s pleasure like a shirshu tracking its prey.

Zuko tight around him and pleading for more.

Sokka couldn’t think of anything more perfect than the sight of Zuko writhing in pleasure until Sokka had finally driven him over the edge, and the fire bender came screaming for him. But the sight of Zuko loose and pliant under him, panting in the afterglow, was like a spirit vision that Sokka wanted to worship.

Sokka found himself so wrapped up in Zuko’s pleasure that it fed his own until he found himself following Zuko into blinding completion. The fire bender’s hands gripped at Sokka’s back, fire-hot breath on his neck, and shaking thighs tangled with his own.

It was sudden and everything he could hope for.

If they weren’t still on the Boiling Rock Sokka would have basked in the afterglow with Zuko, but he had to get their escape ready. So with great reluctance, he pulled himself off from Zuko’s sated body and got back to his feet.

“Remember we escape in an hour,” Sokka said, as he scooped Zuko up into his arms, before leaving the cell to hand him off to the other guards.

Shinzu gave a laugh, as he was handed the boneless prince, and remarked, “You really did put him in his place. The traitor can’t even walk.”

Sokka wanted to punch the guy in the face for finding the state Zuko was in as funny, but he held himself back. They were so close to finally getting out of this place, he couldn’t risk it.

As Shinzu and the female guard began to walk away, Shinzu stopped and turned to Sokka and said, “Oh yeah, the warden wants to see you.”

“Why?” Sokka asked, nervous worry beginning to build in him.

Shinzu shrugged and answered, “I don't know. I didn't ask.”

“Maybe I could schedule another time with him? How's tomorrow?” Sokka tried hopefully.

But Shinzu had to crush that hope with a casual, “He wants to see you now.”

Sokka sighed, and then headed off to where Shinzu told him the warden would be waiting for him, and found a line of several other guards that he was instructed to stand with before the warden finally began talking.

“One of you is an imposter who thought he could fool me. But now that person is going to be in a lot of trouble. Who is it?” The warden demanded as Chit Sang was led to the front of the lineup.

Chit Sang looked up and down the line of guards for a moment, and Sokka was sure that he was about to be caught when the man pointed and said, “That's him, Warden. He's the imposter.”

But Chit Sang wasn’t pointing at him. He had pointed at the guard standing next to him. The same guard who had been harassing the man when they had first arrived on the rock. Relief flooded Sokka.

Chit Sang hadn’t been lying when he said he wasn’t going to turn them in.

The guard was led away pleading with anyone who would listen that he was innocent, and Sokka left to go enact his escape plan.

It hadn’t taken more than a few minutes to find his way to the control tower, and Sokka frowned when he realized the room wasn’t empty like it had been when he’d scouted it out earlier.

Still, he could work with this.

“Hey, I just got orders. Let the prisoners out into the yard,” Sokka declared as he walked inside.

The guard crossed his arms and answered, “But we're in the middle of lockdown.”

“Oh, okay,” The warrior replied with a dismissive wave of his hands, as he began to walk off. “I'll just go tell the Warden you said that. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear about you undermining his authority.”

But then Sokka stopped in the doorway to turn around and ask, “What's your name again?”

“Wait. Don't tell the Warden, I... I'm just a little confused,” The guard panicked, as he looked between Sokka and the controls nervously.

Sokka smirked, before taking the guard’s hands and laying them down onto the controls and saying, “Hey, I'm confused too. But the Warden's in a bad mood and irrational. So if you ask me, it's best not to question it and just do what he says.”

“Yeah, you're right,” The guard sighed before he pulled down a few different levers and an alarm bell went off, signaling the prisoner’s release.

Sokka strolled out of the control tower whistling to himself, as he began making his way to the courtyard, to meet up with the rest of his group.


	5. Chapter 5

Shinzu dumped Zuko into the chair before stepping back to stand next to the female guard.

Zuko scowled and gave a pretend wince before he snapped, “I didn't do anything wrong.”

“Come on Zuko. We all know that's a lie,” Came Mai’s voice from the back corner of the room, and Zuko whipped around in the chair to look at her in shock and building horror, because if Mai was here then that meant Azula was somewhere on the Boiling Rock as well.

Zuko gave a swallow and whispered, “Mai…”

But his ex didn’t say anything. She stood there looking at him in silence, as the guards left them alone in the room.

“How did you know I was here?” Zuko asked. He’d been so sure that the warden had been planning on waiting until he thought Zuko had been fully broken before contacting the Fire Lord.

Mai scoffed, “Because I know you so well.”

“But... how?”

“The Warden's my Uncle, you idiot,” Mai answered. “The truth is, I guess I don't know you. All I got was a letter. You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart.”

Zuko stayed silent, as she produced the letter he’d left for her.

Mai glared at him for a few tense moments before adding, “You could have been honest with me, Zuko. You didn’t have to trick me. You didn’t have to make me think that you were in love with me. If you needed me to pretend to be your girlfriend, I would have been more than willing to. All you had to do was be honest with me.”

“I was trying to be a good son. I do care about you, but-” Zuko started, but Mai interrupted him.

“You’re gay. I had my suspicions,” Mai sighed, as she returned the letter to her pocket. “Which is why I want to help you escape.”

“You- Wait, what?” Zuko sputtered, confusion hitting him like a battering ram.

Mai was quiet for a few moments before a tiny smile graced her lips and she said, “Breaking up with me was the best thing you could have ever done for me. I was heartbroken for a while, but Ty Lee was there for me and I realized I had fallen in love with the wrong person. If you become Fire Lord, I know that you will repeal Fire Lord Sozin’s laws about homosexuality being illegal and I can be with Ty Lee. I’m doing this for her. Not you.”

“I’m happy for you,” Zuko smiled before he stood up from his chair. “There is actually an escape attempt happening right now. I know the perfect way you can help. But I need to know, is my sister here?”

“No, I didn’t want to risk something going wrong. It’s just me and Ty Lee,” Mai answered with a smirk.

The panic that had been simmering in the back of Zuko’s mind died instantly and he nodded at the door.

Mai strode over and gave a sharp knock before calling out, “Open up the door. I’m ready to go, and I’m taking the prisoner with me.”

From there it was as simple as walking out of the cell behind Mai, and following her out and down the hall. As they walked, Zuko let her in on the escape plan.

“Your uncle wouldn’t risk your safety to keep his no escape record intact,” Zuko finished.

Mai was quiet for a moment, seeming to think over what Zuko had told her, before she answered, “That’s actually a really good plan. Sokka came up with that plan, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he’s great,” Zuko sighed happily, as they finally walked into the lounge to collect Ty Lee.

The pink-clad acrobat looked up from the lively conversation she was having with a smitten guard and at Mai, before glancing at Zuko for a moment.

“We got what we’ve come for. Let’s go. We don’t want to keep Azula waiting,” Mai said, before leaving the room with Zuko, and Ty Lee shot up from the table to follow.

Once they were out of earshot of the guards, Mai let Ty Lee in on the plan, and a moment later their group was walking out into the light of day.

Zuko glanced down into the courtyard, from the platform that led to the gondolas and spotted Sokka and the rest of their group.

“Okay, I am going to pretend to attack the two of you to draw the rest of our escape group’s attention. We have to make sure that the fight lasts long enough for them to get up here,” Zuko stated right before he rushed forward and spun around to send a fire punch towards the two girls with a shout.

A quick glance back to Sokka revealed that he had succeeded in drawing said attention, and then he turned back to the fight just in time to dodge a flying dagger. A moment later and Suki was leaping up and over the railing of the platform to come to Zuko’s aid.

He angled his next attack to land him next to the warrior to quickly inform her, “The fight is fake, they are on our side.”

Then he sent another attack towards his friends.

Suki didn’t question what she’d been told and rushed forward to attack Ty Lee. The acrobat dodged, and Suki’s next attack missed. Zuko could only hope that was on purpose.

The guards that came to Mai and Ty Lee’s defense did make things more complicated, at least until two separate arcs of flames came from behind those guards and knocked them to the ground. Ming and Chit Sang had entered the fight.

Rushing up from behind the two were Hakoda and Sokka.

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief before he nodded at Mai, rushed her, and threw her over his shoulder before shouting, “Head to the gondola!”

He could hear the warden shouting in the background, “Stop them!”

Ty Lee stood frozen in pretend shock, as the rest of their group raced past her.

Once he reached the gondola, Zuko waited for the rest of their group to arrive, before handing Mai to Hakoda as Ty Lee was running towards them.

“Mai will explain,” Zuko told the man before he ran from their group and made for the leveler to start the gondola. He yanked it into the “on” position and dodged Ty Lee’s chi block before retreating back by half a dozen arm lengths. Then, he opened fire on the lever so it would be stuck in that position.

He dodged Ty Lee one last time, before taking a look at his handiwork, and then bolting for the edge of the platform and jumping. There was a moment as he reached out to grab onto the gondola and missed where he thought he had just jumped to his death, but then Sokka’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm to pull him up and into the gondola.

“You are crazy, Zuko!” Sokka shouted at him, before pulling the fire bender into his embrace and he sighed, “Don’t you ever scare me like that ever again.”

Zuko sagged in relief and hugged Sokka back, then let go to turn to look out the window at the prison, and saw Ty Lee racing up the cord and knew that everything had worked out.

“I can’t promise that, but I’ll do my best,” Zuko answered Sokka, as Ty Lee disappeared from his view for a moment before she swung into the gondola from the roof.

She wasted no time in pulling Mai into a hug, laughing, “I can’t believe that actually worked!”

Zuko looked away from the happy couple, to Ming and Suki who were also in a similar embrace before he finally turned back to his own significant other and smiled.

Sokka was looking at him with more love than Zuko knew what to do with, and then Zuko was leaning forward and kissing him.

Kissing Sokka was like drowning in all sorts of good feelings. It wasn’t like finding his other half like some of the plays he’d seen had claimed it was. It was the feeling of every good thing that had ever happened to him all at once.

It was the feeling of coming home and Zuko let himself drown in it.

When he pulled away from the kiss, he rested his forehead against Sokka’s shoulder and sighed happily, “I love you, Sokka.”

“I love you too, darling,” Sokka answered before pressing a kiss to the top of Zuko’s head.

Mai interrupted their soft moment by asking, “So were the rumors about the Boiling Rock true?”

“Yeah, they were true,” Zuko answered, as he lifted his head from Sokka’s shoulder to look into his boyfriend’s eyes, before pressing another kiss to the man’s lips.

They took Mai and Ty Lee’s war balloon back to the temple. The temple they had left as just two guys and had returned to as three couples, a father, and Chit Sang.

Zuko and Sokka stepped off from the blimp together before the rest of their prison gang, so they wouldn’t startle their friends who had been left behind more than a Fire Nation war blimp already had.

Kaara was the first to greet them, confused by their mode of transport, “What are you doing in this thing? What happened to the war balloon?”

“It kind of got destroyed,” Zuko answered, about to rub the back of his neck but dropping his hand when his fingers came in contact with the bandage on his neck that covered his prison ID tattoo.

Aang noticed, his eyes zeroing in on the bandage wrapping around Zuko’s neck, “Sounds like a crazy fishing trip. What happened to your neck?”

“We went to prison and Zuko got caught,” Sokka answered with a laugh.

Toph laughed and then asked, “Did you at least get some good meat?”

“Oh, Zuko definitely got some good meat,” Sokka teased, before smacking Zuko’s ass.

Katara groaned, “I did not need to know that, Sokka.”

“I bet I know a good way to make it up to you, Katara,” Sokka declared before he called into the ship, “Hey you guys can get off the ship now!”

And then Hakoda followed by Suki and the rest of their group disembarked the ship.

“Dad- Wait? What are Azula’s friends doing here, and who are the other two?” Katara sputtered.

Sokka answered, “They helped. Everyone, say hi to Ming, Suki’s girlfriend, Mai and Ty Lee, also girlfriends, and Chit Sang, not a snitch. We don’t actually know why he was in prison. So I guess we just have to hope he isn’t a cannibal.”

Chit Sang laughed and dispelled any mystery around his imprisonment by saying, “I punched Admiral Zhao in the face. It was more than worth it.”

“Nice!” Sokka cheered. “And this is Chit Sang who punched Admiral Sideburns in the face.”

Toph groaned, “Seriously, you guys didn't find any meat?”

“No, but Sokka and I can go hunting tomorrow if you want,” Zuko said with a smile.

Sokka interjected himself into the conversation, by turning Zuko towards Katara and saying, “Hey, Katara, when Zuko was caught, they tattooed his prisoner ID number on the back of his neck. Could you heal him?”

Katara was quiet for a few moments, looking between Zuko and her brother, before sighing, “Yeah, sit down and I’ll get some water. I don’t want something like an infection stopping you from teaching Aang fire bending.”

Zuko smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Sokka’s cheek before he went to sit down. Katara might still not like him, but he hadn’t gone to the Boiling Rock for her. He had gone to that place for Sokka.

And it had gone so much better than he could have ever hoped for.


End file.
